In Rua Gouveia Nóbrega, is the Parque Arruda Câmera, also known as Bica Park, with an 18th century fountain.

The Chapel of the Third Order, covered with gilded carving and paintings, is known as the Capela Dourada (Golden Chapel). On the columns of the high altar are sirens and other mythological figures. The side altars are no less richly decorated.

The stone-built Casa da Pólvora (1710), on Largo de São Francisco, to the north of the Cathedral, is now occupied by the Museu Walfredo Rodrigues, with photographic material on the history of João Pessoa.

Between December and February a sandbank known as the Ilha de Areia Vernelha ("Island of Red Sand") emerges from the sea at low tide. It can be reached in jangadas (fishing boats) from the beaches of Camboinha and Poço in Cabedelo.

The road to Campina Grande, the second largest town in Paraíba state, to the west of João Pessoa, runs past a number of sugar-mills. In 50km/31mi it comes to the large Engenho Itapuá, the sugar-mill which inspired José Lins do Rego to such works as "Fogo Morto" ("Dead Fire", 1943).

108km/67mi from João Pessoa on the road to Campina Grande is the Pedra do Ingá, with rock inscriptions. This area in the Chapada de Borborema was formerly the territory of the large Cariri tribe, which now, along with other tribes such as the Xucuru, numbers no more than 4000.